The suitor-princes assemble in the hall where Indumati enters with garland in
hand fully robed as a selecting bride creating a sensation among the assembled
princes. She is chaparoned by her nurse named lady sunanda under whose guidance
she passes on from prince to prince until she comes in front of Aja; she looks
lovingly at him and puts the garland round his neck much to the chagrin of the
rival suitors and to the approval of the populace who express it by vociforous
acclamations. - KMG

In the hall of swayamvara prince
aja has seen other princes and
kings who have come as suitors of princess
indumati sitting on befitting thrones placed on a stepped
podia, where apparatus required for the comforts of visiting kings,
like fanning instruments, refreshment liquors etc are provided, and
those mundane princes have decorating themselves charmingly and
looked ultra mundane as though they have preempted the magnificence
of celestials whose wont is to travel in aircrafts. [6-1]

THEN fair as Gods who mount celestial cars, / In royal robes arrayed, and seated
high / On thrones, refulgent, raised on dais-steps, / The noble range of
suitor-kings he saw.

The prince prince aja saw there the
rulers of the human world of agreeable attire, seated on thrones
over decorated dais, and exhi­bited the charms of the gods who
wandered about in balloons. - N

Mark the peculiar construction - the grace, lIla,
of the marutaH and hence the compound
ought to have been something like AkR^iSta
marullIlAn, or there ought have been no compound at all; but
instances like the present one are very common, see
ratergR^hItvA in the next stanza or
devadattasya gurukulam, which are
explained as sApekshatvAt apigamakatvAt samAsaH - KMJ

When the other suitor-kings have looked at prince
prince aja of
kakutstha lineage their hearts became hopeless of winning the
hand of princess indumati in the
self-selection of her bridegroom, because the appearance of prince
prince aja is more like lovegod
manmatha, when he was with his own
winsome physique, which physique had been burnt by shiva, but
restored with invisibility by shiva on accepting the supplication of
rati-devi, the wife of
manmatha, for such restoration. [6-2]

This young man prince prince aja
ascending a flight of well-crafted stairs reached a podium as
ushered by bhoja, the king of vidarbha, as with a cub of lion
ascending straticulated boulders to reach heights on a mountaintop.
[6-3]

By carven stair he mounted to the throne / the King assigned him, as a
lion stalks / O'er rocks to gain a mighty mountain-peak.

On assuming a throne studded with jewels and upholstered with
upholstery containing variegated colour work, prince
prince aja has assumed certain
resplendence significantly comparable to that of
kumara when he is mounted on the back of peacock. [6-4]

The idea is indeed very happy . A peacock
with his feathers resembles a work studded with jewels. The peacock
has been celebrated for its beauty and used as a model for seats.
Thus, the celebrated peacock throne of Delhi. - KMJ.

Of course, this throne is shifted to London during British Raj.
parArthyavarNAstaraNopapanna-ratnakhacitAsanam
- bimba; back of peacock - pratibimba; AsedivAn,
AshrayI - different words are used for two sitters; hence
this is vastu prati vasu nirUpaNa. Hence
this is bimba pratibimba, vastu prati vastu
upama is there.

Lady Grandeur's particular refulgence shone forth among the rows of
suitor kings distributing itself among each of the kings, as with
one lightning distributing itself into innumerable streaks among
clouds, and in the wake of such peculiarity of Divine Refulgence it
has become impossible to stare at them. [6-5]

In the midst of those suitor kings who are in gorgeous getups and
sitting on most valuable seats, prince aja,
the legatee of emperor raghu, alone shone
forth with his resplendence as with pArijAta
tree among the other celestial trees. [6-6]

In the previous stanza we are lead to gather that the suitor princes
shone by the borrowed lustre of shrI;
while raghu's legatee shone by his own lustre; he was so impressive.
Reg. trees, accurately speaking kalpa druma
is only one tree among five celestial trees -
mandAra, pArijAtaka santAna, kalpa-vriksha, hari-candana, but
the plural is here used in the generic sense. This
pArijAta was one of the fourteen jewels
obtained by the churning of the Milky Ocean. KMJ.

Refraining from gazing at all the other suitor princes, the host of
eyes of city dwelling hosts fell on prince aja,
as with honeybees refraining from the flowered trees on which they
are so far hovering for nectar fall upon a wild elephant when it
nears with strong smelling ichor oozing on its temples. [6-7]

Here the swarm of honeybees - u.mA; host
of eyes of people - u.me; leaving one
place to go to the other - anugAmidharma;
leaving off all kings - bimba; leaving
off flowered trees - pratibimba. There is
no adhika visheShaNatva doSha in this
upama.

Now, while the whole assemblage of princes of the Solar and Lunar
dynasties is being glorified by bards familiar with their pedigrees,
while the smoke arising from the burning of
aguru, black aloe incense, is curling up overtopping the
several banners, welcome flags fluttering in sky, while the sound of
auspicious musical instruments swelled by the dinning blasts of
conch-shells spreading all round to the extreme limits so as to
produce an impression is exciting the peacocks belonging to the
gardens of the outskirts of the city magadha
to dance frantically, there entered the princess who is the selector
of her husband dressed in nuptial-garments in a palanquin carried by
bearers and attended by a retinue of attendants; she came up the
broad road left open between the rows of the daises. [6-8, 9,
10] - KMJ

On seeing the chef-d'œuvre of the creator in the form of a lovely
damsel, princess indumati, who presently
is the cynosure of hundreds of eyes, the suitor kings became
addle-pated and just stuck to their seats bodily, as their
impassioned hearts have bested them out at her sight. [6-11]

That perfect woman, Brahma's last best work, / The goal of countless hearts,
drew all their souls / Out through their eyes, the lumpish clay alone /
Remained behind.

The suitor kings betraying an ardent longing for the princess
indumati have started sending many
feelers with their amatory gestures, the foremost messengers in
amorousness, as with trees which will put out tender leaves on
seeing vasanta laksmi, the springtide. [6-12]

A certain king sporting a lotus started to twirl its stem held in
between both of his rubbing palms, while the swaying petals of that
are shoving honeybees and its pollen is swirling inside the flower. [6-13]

karastha lIla aravinda vat tvayA.aham
bhramayitavya - iti nR^ipa abhiprAyaH - that king meant by
this gesture that, "you marry me and spin me in pleasures like this
lotus...' hasta ghURNiko.ayam - ava lakshaNaH -
iti indumati abhiprAyaH - her thinking is, 'he is unfit to be
a husband since he is just a juggler...' thus she dismissed him.

Another voluptuary king extricated his lavaliere which slipped from
his shoulder and stuck in the cusp of his gem-studded
bicep-ornament, and braced it on his chest in its proper place
turning his handsome face to sideways. [6-14]

prAvAra utkshepaNa cChalena aham tvAm evam
parirapsya iti nR^pa abhiprAyAH - 'I will embrace you in a
pranksome manner of adjusting some necklace of mine…' - is the view
of that prince; gopanIyam ki.ncit ange asti tato
ayam prAvR^iNuta iti indumati abhiprAyaH - 'he has something
on his body that cannot be revealed, so he is hiding his body…' - is
the view of indumati.

6-16. kashicit= someone - another king;
vAmam bhujam= left, shoulder; Asana
arthe= seat's, on a part of - to a side of seat;
niveshya= having kept; tat sanniveshAt=
by that [shoulder,] placement [to a side of seat];
adhika unnata a.msaH san= much, height, shoulder, he is
having - a lopsided shoulder; vivR^itta=
turned, twisted; trika= backbone - it
would be better to take it as the upper part of the spine between
the shoulder blades - KMJ; bhinna hAraH=
displaced, chest ornament -displaced in consequence of the twisting
of the upper part of body; suhR^it= with
a friend - sitting on left; samAbhASaNa tatparaH
AbhUt= in conversation, involved, he became.

Another one resting his left arm on a part of the seat and thus
having the shoulder of the other side raised lopsidedly and as a
consequence the pearl-necklace on his chest appearing only in
halves, showed that he is deeply engaged in conversation with his
friend. [6-16]

tvayA vAmAnke niveshitayA saha evam vArtAm
kariShyati - iti nR^ipa abhiprAyaH - 'I will place you in
left and chitchat with you in this way,' is the idea of suitor;
mAm dR^iSTvA parAnmukho ayam na kArya kartA -
iti indumati AshayaH - 'on seeing me he turned his face away,
he is good for nothing, except to chitchat,' is the opinion of the
princes.

Another youngster started to tear an yellowish mogra leaf with the
edges of his nails which are habituated to scratch the behinds of
his ladyloves, where that leaf is the usual charming decorative
hairslide of lady charmers at the back of their ears. [6-17]

The ketaki or mogra is often folded in
the form of a rectangle and put in the head as a piece of
decoration, and therefore, I am half-inclined to take
danta patra to signify 'a comb' but
unfortunately I find no authority for it. - KMJ.

Others say that the stiff blade like petal of this flower is folded
and stuck like a comb in hair that too at the back of ears, as
ladies will usually [used to] stick combs in buns while they lace
braids. Now they are not applying hair oil even.

6-18. kashcit= someone;
kusheshaya=kushe= jale - kusham sharam
vanam nIram - names of water; thus
on water, shete= which reclines=
kushe shaya= a lotus reclining on water;
A+tAamra= fully, red; talena= with
such a reddish - palm; rekhA dhvprince aja
lA~NChanena= lines, of a flagstaff, with such marks - in a
reddish palm which has [palmistry] lines resembling flag post -
certain lines on palm mark royalty, among them dhvprince
aja is one; kareNa= with such hand
- having such a palm; ratna a.ngulIya=
jewelled, [finger] ring's prabhayA= with glint;
anuviddhAn= covered over - this is a different sense from the
sense at 6-63 for anuvidh; akshAn= dice;
sa lIlam= with sport - sportily;
udIrayAmAsa= started to toss - this also means 'to speak'.

One of those suitors started to toss dice sportily with his hand on
which the glint of his jeweled rings on fingers is overspreading,
and which hand is having a very reddish palm comparable to a red
lotus, on which an important line of palmistry called flagstaff is
there. [6-18]

aham tvayA saha evam ramsya - iti nR^pa
abhiprAyaH - 'I will take delight in playing with you,' is
the king's opinion; aksha cAturyeNa kApuruSa -
iti indumati abhiprAyaH - 'he is a knavish gambler, forget
him…' is the opinion of the princess.

Some other suitor started to fidget one of his arms on his crown as
if it has slipped from its place, and as though he is adjusting it
to its proper place, and in doing so the lustre of diamonds filled
the interstices of his fingers. [6-19]

kIrITa vat mama shirashi sthitAm api tAm bhAram
na manya iti NR^ipAbhiprAyaH - 'though you sit on my head
like crown, I don't mind you as weighty,' is the opinion of the
king; shirashi nyasta hastaH - ayam avalakshaNaH
- iti indumati abhiprAyaH - 'he is placing hands on his head
as if his house is drowned - he is an awkward lout,' is the opinion
of princess.

Then the chatelaine lady sunanda who is
familiar with the histories and lineages of kings who have come as
suitors, firstly led the young princess indumati
to the proximity of the king of magadha
province, and spoke this in a self-confident voice of a man. [6-20]

"Here is king paramtapa who holds sway
over magadha kingdom and whose energy is
unfathomable, who is a shelterer to the shelter seekers, and who
received laurels in keeping his subjects happy and enemies at bay,
thus he is true to his name... [6-21]

6-22. anye nR^ipAH= other, kings;
kAmam= maybe - this particle kAmam is used
in various senses by authors, where the general meaning is 'forced assent,' and
here it is 'let there be'; sahasrashaH=sahasraiH sahasraiH paricChinAH= thousands and
thousands; sa.ntu= mayhap be there;
bhUmim= earth; anena= by him;
rAjanvatIm= having king - not rAja vati; AhuH=
they say; [tathA hi= indeed];
nakshatra=na ksharanti sva sthAnAt na cyutAni
bhavanti tAni nakshatrANi= those that do not fall or change their
positions - fixed stars, but this term is restricted to 27 constellations only;
tArA=tarantyAbhiH iti = those that serve as
guides to travellers; graha=
gR^ihNanti sUrya tejAmsi iti grahAH - those that take shine from the sun,
hence grahAH, planets;
sa.mkulA api= replete with, even though; rAtriH=
a night; ca.ndramasA eva= by moon, alone;
jyotiSmatI= will be brightened.

"The earth may perhaps have thousands of other kings, but she is said to be
under good rule only through this king of magadha,
as with a night though replete with constellations, stars and planets, it will
be brightened only with the moon... [6-22]

In this alankAra is
dR^iShTAnta; earth - night; king - moon; other kings on earth - numerous
stars on sky; prashasta rAjavatva - prashasta
jyotiShmattva - will each become the mirrored object and its reflected
object.

This king has become instrumental in rendering the uncombed curls of
shachi-devi, the consort of
indra, to dangle on her palish cheeks,
and thus made her to remain undecorated with
mandAra flowers in her unkempt hair for a long, long times,
because this king has continuously performed Vedic-rituals in which
indra had to come from heaven to receive
ritual oblations without a surcease... [6-23]

Although the tree mandAra is named here
we are to understand the flowers of this tree by 'implication.'

"Should you wish that this most eligible prince may take your hand
in marriage, let the womenfolk of puShpapura,
the capital of magadha, peering through
the windows of their multi-storeyed buildings fill their eyes with
festivity upon your entry into that city along with this king..." So
said chatelaine sunanda to princess
indumati. [6-24]

When sunanda said in this way she that
curvaceous princess indumati has seen the
prince of magadha, whereupon the garland
of madhuka flowers embedded with sacred
grass held in her hands to grace the prospective bridegroom required
a little readjustment in her handling, and adjusting it she silently
made a matter of fact gesture of adjoining palms and bade adieu to
him. [6-25]

A garland stuffed with sacred darbha
grass is considered as an auspicious item; vara
mAla - garland with which the prospective bridegroom is
garlanded, if selected.

Because she is aware of princess indumati's
thinking that chatelaine sunanda as a
macebearer for that occasion led the princess to another suitor king
as with a ripple when upheaved by a breeze wafts a she-swan from one
lotus to another in mAnasa Lake.

sunanda again said this to princess
indumati, "here is the ruler of
anga kingdom whose youthful vivacity is
yearned after by celestial damsels, and at whose instance experts in
composing aphorisms, they say, have composed aphorisms on taming the elephant
with which he got elephants tamed, by which he is
enjoying the supreme position of indra
even though he is on earth..." [6-27]

It is said that the king of anga became
unsuccessful in taming elephants running amuck and prayed
indra for help. Indra
sent sages called, pAlakApya, rAjaputra, and
Mrigacarma who composed the art and science of taming
elephants in aphorisms and taught it to the king of
anga. Hence he became the foremost tamer
of elephants .

"This king of anga made the wives of his
enemies to throw off their ornaments and weep for their husbands
shedding tears larger than pearls onto their breasts, and those
tears continuously shed, in effect, appeared as stringless pearl
necklaces given by him in lieu of real necklaces taken away by
him... [6-28]

"By their nature the goddess of wealth and the goddess of learning
will be abiding in two different locales, but they are found in one
and the same place in this king of anga,
and oh, blessed princess, you by your loveliness and veraciousness
are suited to become the third among those two goddesses, in case
you choose him…" Thus sunanda said to
indumati. [6-29]

Then, lowering her eyes from the king of anga,
princess indumati said to the friend of
her mother sunanda, "get going…" and they
moved from there; not that this king of anga
is not wooable, nor was it that the princess
indumati did not understand how to distinguish correctly; but
different people will have different tastes.

The axiom 'loko bhinna ruchiH' coined
here has remained among people even today.
Here arthAntara nyAsa alankAra is there.

6-31. tataH= then;
pratihAra bhUmau=dvAra deshe= at
door, place of - in the position of a doorkeeper, rather a custodian
of palace-chambers, chataleine; niyuktA=
she who is assigned - sunanda; dviSadbhiH=
by his enemies; duS prasaham= hard, to
withstand - in enmity; visheSa dR^ishyam=darshanIya rUpavantam= one who is
pleasant to look at; param nR^ipam= at
another, king; nava utthAnam= newly,
risen; i.ndum iva= at moon, as with;
indumatyai= for indumati; nidarshayAmAsa=
started pointing out.

Then the custodian of palace-chambers lady
sunanda pointed out to princess indumati
another pleasant looking prince whom his enemies found it hard to
withstand, just as people point out the newly risen moon. [6-31]

"This long-armed, broad-chested, lion-waisted lord of
avanti kingdom too shines forth like the
sun, when vishva-karma , the divine
architect, assiduously ground down that sun by mounting him on a
revolving grindstone..." [6-32]

tvashTra, or
vishvakarma has a daughter called
sanj~jna, who is given in marriage to the Sun.
She was unable to bear the severe resplendence of her husband,
namely Sun. Then vishvakarma the father
of the bride mounted the bridegroom, Sun, on a lathe like grinding
machine and trimmed off a part of Sun's disc, which too was utilised
in making viShNu's disc. With all his skills
vishvakarma could trim off only one eighth of Sun's disc.
Vishnu Purana.

"In the campaigns of this king of avanti,
who is in the possession of three elements of power, the heaps of
dust raised by the horses running in front of his army will be
dusking the lustre sprouting from the crest-jewels of feudatories.
[6-33]

"Residing very near to temple-abode of shiva, the
mahA-kAla, the god with crescentic moon
on his crest, this king of avanti enjoys
the moonlit nights along with his ladyloves even during dark
fortnights... [6-34]

This concept is very poetically descried by
kAlidAsa in meghadUta 30 to 39.
The capital of avanti kingdom is
avantipuri or ujjaini,
also called vishAla, which is considered
to be one of the seven most sacred cities in India to die, where
eternal happiness - moksha - is ensured.

6-35. hè ra.mbha Uru= oh, one with
plantain-stalk like, thighs; yUnA= ins.
sing. of the irregular yuvan - a youth;
anena
pArthivena saha= with him, with king, along with;
shiprA= of shripa river - a river
near ujjain, a tributary of chambalA; tara.nga=
of waves; anila= by breeze;
ka.mpitAsu = moved by, fanned by; udyAna
para.mparAsu= in pleasure gardens, a series of;
vihartum= to pleasure trip - to sport; te
manasaH ruciH kaccit= your, heart's, longing, is there - do
you wish to.

"Oh, princess with plantain-stalk like thighs, is there any longing
in your heart to sport with this youthful king in the series of
gardens that are fanned by the breezes wafted by the waves of
shipra river in
avanti?" Thus sunanda asked for
the opinion of indumati about king of
avanti. [6-35]

As with white-lotus blooming in night does not have a penchant for
the sun who makes day-lotuses to bloom and parch the enemy called
mire with his valorous torridity, she that highly pretty princess
indumati also did not attach significance
to the king of avanti who with his
valorous prowess made his friends to bloom like day-lotuses, and
parched enemies like mud. [6-36]

Then lady sunanda led the princess
indumati whose shine is like that of the
corolla of a red lotus, a superior princess by her characteristics,
a girl come of age, and a charming creation of the Creator, and
placing such a princess before the king of anUpa
that lady sunanda again said this to her.
[6-37]

"Once there was a king named kArtavIrya
whose pair of arms used to manifest in wars as thousand arms because
of his ambidexterity, who on performing Vedic rituals had staked
ritual posts in all the eighteen continents of the world, who
deserved, unlike others, the title of rAja,
and above all who was a yogi... isn't it… [6-38]

kArtavIryaarjuna
was the king of haihaya people in central
India. From
dattatreya he obtained several boons among them a thousand
arms, a golden chariot moving at his will, power to restrain wrong
and the power to discover that wrong even if it lurked in the minds
of people, invincibility by his enemies and death at the hands of a
person renowned in the three worlds. He ruled over the earth with
justice and performed ten thousand Vedic rituals. Vishnu Purana. -
KMJ

"As an exemplary leader he who used to appear before subjects
wielding his bow the moment when an evil thought crosses their
minds, and who used to counteract the indiscipline of subjects even
if it cropped up latently in their thoughts, such a king
kArtavIrya was there, isn't it... [6-39]

"In whose prison-house the lord of lanka
and the vanquisher of indra, namely
rAvaNa, had been imprisoned with twenty
of his arms became motionless and with ten of his mouths furiously
gasping for breath when tied down just with one bowstring of
kArtavIrya, and who held that
rAvana as a prisoner until he was
favourably disposed to release him… that powerful king
kArtavIrya was there, isn't it... [6-40]

The reference in the stanza is to the incident when
kArtavIryaarjuna
while enjoying a bath in the waters of the River
narmada with the females of his harem obstructed the flow of
the water of the river. Taking advantage
of the bed thus left dry down below, rAvaNa
commenced the worship of shiva linga
there. When kArtavIrya came out of the
river the obstruction was suddenly removed and the flow washed
rAvaNa with the shiva linga. Irritated at
this rAvaNa challenged
kArtavIrya to a fight in which he [rAvaNa]
was defeated and taken prisoner. At the intercession of sage
pulastya, kArtavIrya
set rAvaNa at liberty. The Vayu Purana, however, says that
kArtavIrya invaded lanka and there took rAvaNa as a prisoner. - KMJ

41. AgamaH= scriptures;
vR^iddha= elders; sevI= a servitor
of - AgamaH ca vR^iddhAH ca, tAn sevitum shIlaH
- one who follows Veda-s and elders;
or, one who is a servitor of elders who are well-read in Veda-s;
pratIpa=pratIpa
- name of the king; iti= thus;
eSha bhUpatiH= he is, the king; tasya=
his, that kArtavIrya arjuna's; anvaye= in
lineage; jAtaH= born in;
yena= by whom, by which king pratIpa;
sa.mshraya=pu.msaH= with whom
[glory] abides; doSha= flaws [of the
persons on whom glory rests]; rUDha.m=
caused by [on account of the flaws of that person on whom glory
rests]; shriyaH= glory;
svabhAva lolA iti= by nature, fickle, thus;
a+yashaH= ill, repute [of glory as she is fickle, mercurial];
pramR^iShTam = wiped out.

"In the lineage of such a kArtavIrya arjuna this prince is born.
He is known as pratIpa and he is a
servitor of those that are well read in scriptures. Generally an ill
repute is attached to shrI, the Lady of
Glory that she is mercurial by her nature, which in fact is on
account of the flaws of those persons with whom she abides… but this
prince has wiped out that ill repute of mercuriality of Lady of
Glory, because this prince is flawless... [6-41]

"Having obtained the firegod as an alley
in battles through his ancestors, this prince
pratIpa considers the sharp edge of
parashu-rAma's axe, which by itself is the cataclysmal
last-night of kshatriya-s, to be no more
than the petal of a lotus...

The reference is to the help received by nIla,
one of the kings of mahiShmati from
Fire-god. nIla had a daughter of
exquisite beauty; she used to attend to the sacrificial fire of her
father. agni, Fire-god, fell in love with her and his suit was
accepted by the girl herself. The king came to know this and was
very much incensed and wanted to punish Fire-god who used to enjoy
the company of the princess in the disguise of a brAhmaNa. The deity
disclosed his identity whereupon the king bestowed his daughter upon
him as a recompense. Fire-god conferred a boon upon nIla that his
soldiers should be always victorious. From that time those who
invade the kingdom of the rulers of mahishmati
are consumed by fire. - mahAbhArata; sabha parva. - KMJ

43. mAhiShmatI= of city mahIShmati;
vapra nitamba kA~ncIm = compound wall, on hip,
golden-cincture - a cincture around the hip called the compound wall
of that city; jala veNi ramyA.m= water,
gushes, beautiful with; revA.m= at
reva river, narmada
river; prAsAda jAlaiH= of skyscrapers',
from latticed windows; prekShitum= to
see, to enjoy; kAmaH asti yadi= desire,
is there, if; dIrgha bAhoH= of long,
armed one - dextrous prince; asya= his;
a~Nka lakShmIH= in lap, goddess of fortune - consort, like
Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, represented as sitting in the lap,
or on the thigh of Vishnu; bhava= you
become.

"If you wish to enjoy the sight of River narmada
through the latticed windows of skyscrapers of
mAhishamati city, while that river will be beautiful with
billowy water around the compound wall of that city like a
golden-cincture around the waist of a lady, then you become the
consort of this dexterous prince pratIpa..."
So said chatelaine sunanda to princess
indumati. [6-43]

mahishmati is said to have been situated
on the River narmada between vindhya and the Riksha mountains
somewhere near Jabalpoor where there are the celebrated marble rocks.
KMJ

44. prakAma.m= excessively;
priya darshanaH= pleasant, to see - handsome;
api= even though; saH kShitIshaH=
he, that king - prince pratIpa; sharat=
by autumn; pramR^iShTa= removed;
ambu dhara= water, bearers - clouds;
uparodhaH= one who has covering - nirasta
megha AvaraNa - one who has no covering of clouds as those
clouds are already eliminated by autumn season;
paryApta kalaH= fully fledged, in digits / arts - having all
sixteen digits of waxing - with ref. to
moon; versed in all 64 arts - with ref. to the prince;
shashi nalinyAH iva= moon, to day-lotus,
as with; tasyAH= to her - to princess;
rucaye= acceptable; na babhUva=
not, [he, prince pratIpa,] became.

Even though prince pratIpa is excessively
handsome he is not acceptable to princess
indumati, just as the moon though complete in all his sixteen
waxing digits, and though autumn has already cleared cloudcover on
him, remains unacceptable to a day-lotus. [6-44]

45. loka antara gIta kIrtim= worlds,
intervening, sung, one who has such a fame - one whose fame is sung
in intervening worlds other than this; AcAra
shuddha= by religious conventions, who are pure;
ubhaya= both; va.msha= dynasties -
of his paternal as well as maternal dynasties;
dIpa.m= a lamplight - of those two dynasties;
shUrasena=shUrasena kingdom -
near Mathura; adhipati.m= lord of -
shUrasena kingdom; suSheNam= at shushena,
the king of shUrashena kingdom; uddishya=
pointing out, with reference to; shuddha antaH
[pura]= flawless, palace-chambers;
rakShyA= one who keeps guard - caretaker;
sA kumArI= she, that damsel indumati;
jagade= is said - indumati is
addressed by the caretaker sunanda.

sunanda, the caretaker of the flawless
palace-chambers, then addressed the damsel
indumati with reference to susheNa,
the king of shUrasena province, whose
fame is chanted even in worlds other than this one, and who is, as
it were, the lamplight of both his maternal and paternal dynasties
which are pristine in their religious conventions. [5-45]

"This king is the descendent of nIpa
lineage and he is a regular Vedic-ritualist, in whom several
endowments are coexisting as if they have abandoned their natural
variances just as wild animals forget their mutual and natural
antagonism on coming to the hermitage of a saint where tranquillity
ever reigns... [6-46]

"He whose eye-pleasing splendour has settled down in his own house
like moonshine with coolant moonbeams for his allies, while his
unendurable resplendence of valour has settled down on the grass blades
sprouted on the rooftops of his enemies when they fled
abandoning their houses.... [6-47]

48. yasya vAri vihAra kAle= whose, water,
sporting, at the time of - at the time of whose water sports with
his harem; avarodha= not 'screenable
inner apartment' here - but the ladies of screenable
palace-chambers, old word harem, while harem nowadays means a
brothel house; stana candanAnA.m prakShAlanAt=
breasts, sandalwood paste, by the way of washing;
kalinda kanyA= Mt. Kalinda's, daughter -
River kAlindi emerging from Mt. kalinda;
mathurA.m gatA api= city of mathura, reached, though;
ga~Nga Urmi= River Ganga's, with ripples;
sa.msakta jalA iva= mixed with, water, as though;
bhAti= shines forth; he is such a king, namely susheNa, the
king of shUrasena - is the competing line.

"He who participates in the waters sports with his palace ladies in
the river water of River kAlindi, aka
River yamuna, the river daughter of Mt.
kalinda, in consequence of which the sandalwood paste daubed
on the breasts of those ladies gets washed imparting a creaminess to
the water of that river, whereby that River
yamuna appears to have merged with the ripples of River
ganga, though it is still flowing down south at
mathura without actually achieving confluence with
ganga at prayAga...
[6-48]

"Once the gigantic serpent kAliaya
entrusted the jewel on his hood to the ancestors of this king when
he fled harassed by Divine Eagle garuDa to take shelter in the
underwater of River yamuna, so they say...
and now this king who wears that jewel whose lustre spreads on his
broad-chest makes light of viShNu even if
viShNu wears the divine jewel
kausthubha obtained from the churning of
Milk Ocean...

kAlIya was a huge serpent whose abode was
the island ramaNaka. By his insolence he
incurred the displeasure of garuDa and being defeated in the ensuing
fight he sought shelter under the water of the yamuna in the kingdom
of shUrasena, a ground forbidden to garuDa through the curse of
saubhari. - Brahma Vaivarta Purana.
kausthubha - kum - the earth;
sthubhnati iti kusthubha - the sea;
kusthubhasya ayam kausthubha. [KMJ] The
jewel kausthubha was no recompense for
protection. Hence ala.nkAra in this is
utpreksha.

50. yuvAnam= young man;
amu.m= him; bhartAram= as husband;
sa.mbhAvya= on considering, by honouring him as your husband;
mR^idu= soft; pravAla= tender
leaves; uttara=upari prasArita =
overspread; puShpa shayye= on flower, bed;
caitrarathAt= than chaitraratha, the pleasure gardens of
kubera; a+nUne= not, inferior [to those
celestial gardens]; vR^inda vane= in
bRinda, gardens - bRindavan is the garden
named after Brinda, the daughter of king kedara, which girl sported
in the company of shrIhari in those gardens;
sundari= oh, pretty girl; yauvana shrIH=
[your] youth's, glory; nirvishyatA.m=
[you] may enjoy.

"By honouring this young prince susheNa
as your husband, oh pretty girl, you will be enjoying your youth on
flowered beds covered with tender leaves in
bRindavana garden, which in no way is inferior to
chaitraratha, the pleasure garden of
kubera... [6-50]

"Further, you may enjoy the dance of peacocks in the delightful
dales of Mt. govardhana during rainy
seasons by sitting on the stone slabs which when wetted with
raindrops will be fragrant with the scent of
shilAjit..." So said Lady sunanda
to princess indumati. [6-51]

govardhana is the mountain where Krishna
had amorous sports, and lifted it on his little finger. - Vishnu
Purana.

She who has a navel as beautiful as an eddy, and who is scheduled to
become another man's wife, that princess
indumati moved past that prince susheNa
of shUrasena kingdom, just as an ocean
bound river moves past a mountain met by chance on its way. [6-52]

Here u. ma -
srotovaha - river; u.me -
indumati; sAdhAraNa
dharma - moving past - river moving past a mountain if
encountered on its path, indumati moving
past the king of kalinga because he
happened to be on her way; cw -
iva. 1] In Avarta
manoj~na nAbhi - there is samAsa bheda
as said in these vigraha vAkyA-s:
Avarta eva manoj~nA nAbhi ryassyA ssA -
eddy itself is the beautiful navel of the sheet of water of the
river - on river's side; Avarta iva manoj~nA
nAbhi ryassyA ssA - one having eddy-like beautiful navel on
her belly which in turn is like the sheet of water of a river - on
the side of princess. vyatyagAt - moved
past - is the commonality applicable for both
upamAna and upameya.
anya vadhUrbhavitrI - going to become
another man's wife - bimba;
sAgara gAminI - river is also going to
become another entity's wife, namely the wife of ocean, hence it is
the pratibimba; tamnR^ipam - bimba;
mhIdharam - pratibimba; mArga vashAt
upetam - common factor in respect of both the king and
mountain. In this construction there is a
mishraNa, a mixture, of four elements -
anugAmitva, bi.mba pratibi.mba, bhAva, shleSa samAsa bheda
elements. 2] shrauti pUrNa upama.

Then the chambermaid sunanda addressed
that damsel indumati whose face is like
that of a full moon and who by now has come into the proximity of
the prince of kalinga, known as prince
hemAngada, who is wearing bicep ornaments
on his upper arms and who extirpated his foes. [6-53]

"This king hemanagada is equal to the Mt.
mahendra. He is the lord both of the Mt.
mahendra and a great ocean by that name. In the expeditions
of this king, that Mt. mahendra itself
appears, as it were, to march in the forefront of his army under the
semblance of his war-elephants on whose temples ichor will be oozing
as a mark of their invigoration... [6-54]

55. su bhujaH= glorious, arms - one
having them, the prince of kalinga; cApa
bhR^itA.m purogaH= bow, among wielders, foremost one - best
archer; yaH= who;
bandI kR^itAnAm= captive, who is made as - captivated;
ripu shriyA.m= enemy's, grandeur; sa
a~njana= with, mascara; bAShpa seke=
teardrops, besprinkled to form runnels;
paddhatI=pathi pa~NktI ca=
continous [two] lines; iva [sthite]=
like, [available - on his palms]; dve=
two; jyA ghAta rekhe=
jyAyAH AghAtAH= by bowstring, dented, lines - two continuous
lines on his palms dented by continuous use of bowstring;
bhujAbhyA.m= with two arms - by this dual case said for both
arms, the prince is a savyasAchi -
capable to handle arrows with both hands, ambidextrous;
bibharti= he is bearing [those two scars made by bowstring -
he is such a valorous prince; ala.nkAra -
utpreksha.

"This prince with glorious arms is an ace archer and bears two dents
on his palms made by the continuous use of his bowstring. Those two
lines appear as two pathways for the runnels of teardrops mixed with
the mascara of ladies called the grandeurs of his enemies, when this
prince hemAngada captivated them...
[6-55]

56. AtmanaH sadmani= in his own, house -
palace; suptam= one who slept;
yam= whom; sannikR^iShTaH=
available close by, in vicinity; prAsAda=
of palace; vAta ayana= air, passages -
from windows; dR^ishya = one whose
[waves] can be seen; vIciH= who has waves
[namely the ocean]; mandra dhvani tyAjita=
by rumbling, sound, suppressed - bugles of watches are rendered
unnecessary by the rumbling sound of waves; yAma
tUryaH= watches, bugle - and their sound;
arNavaH eva= [such] ocean, alone;
prabodhayati= awakens - this king; arNava
eva= ocean, alone; prabodhayati=
wakes him up; arNavasya eva tUrya kAritvAt
vaiartham samudrasya api sevyaH; kimutAnyeShAm iti bhAvaH -
when the ocean itself is serving this king of kalinga as a bugler of
watches, why reiterating that others are to be in his service? The
anvaya that you may marry such a lordly king - is with next verse.

"When this king of kalinga is adored by
no less than the great ocean, then what to tell about commoners… why
because, there is a great ocean in the vicinity of the mansion of
this king of kalinga whose waves can be
seen from the windows of that mansion… for being in the proximity
that ocean renders the regular bugles of watch-guards unnecessary to
awaken this king in the mornings, because, the ocean-god himself
gives watch-bugle with the rumbling sounds of his oceanic waves to
wake up this king... [6-56]

"With such a prince hemAngada of
kalinga kingdom you can take pleasure
trips in the groves of palm trees full with rustling of palm leaves
on the seashore to where breezes will be wafting the fragrance of
clove flowers from the interspersed islands of that ocean, if you
accept his hand in marriage..." lady sunanda
said so to the princess. [6-57]

Though caretaker sunanda blandished her
in this way, that younger sister of the king of vidarbha, namely
princess indumati, who is apt to get
attracted by the physicality, has turned away from the prince of
kalinga, namely
hemAngada, just as the goddess of fortune turns away from an
unfortunate person however close she may have been hauled towards
him by his tactics. [6-58]

Later, lady sunanda, the female warder of
palace-chambers, having come to the divine-featured lord of the city
known by the name of a serpent, firstly spoke to the younger sister
of bhoja, namely princess
indumati saying, "look here, oh, princess
with beautiful eyes like those of a cakora
bird..." and then spoke to her laying stress on the matter she is
saying. [6-59]

The town referred to is nAga paTTanNam in
the rAjamahendri distinct in [the then]
Madras Presidency - KMJ

"This king whose long pendant of pearls is dangling from his
shoulders, and whose body is shining forth with the tinge of red
sandalwood as that paste is smeared on his body, and who appears
like a lordly mountain letting streams of rapids on its
mountainsides, and with its peaks flooded with the morning sunlight,
is the prince of pANDya kingdom... [6-60]

61. vindhyasya mahA adreH= of Mt.
vindhya, great, mountain; sa.mstambhayitA=
one who stalled [its upward growth]; niHsheSha=
completely; pIta= drunk;
ujjhita= spoted; sindhu rAjaH=
rivers, lord of - ocean - one who drank ocean and spouted it out;
agastyaH= sage agastya; ashva medha=
hose, ritual; avabhR^itha= a sacrted
bathg on completing that ritual; Ardra mUrteH=
wet, with body - when his body is still wet after the sacred bath;
yasya= in whom; prItyA=
friendlily, not by pity; sausnAtikaH=sukhena snAtaH iti pR^icChantaH - or -
sushobhanam snAtam susnAtam pR^icChati;
pR^icChatau susnAtAdibhyaH - those about whom enquiries are
made if they have had a bath in due form after Vedic ritual, i.e.,
have you completed ritual procedurally' etc. will be enquired by
Agastya. The questioner is Sage Agastya and the questioned king is
the king of pANDya; bhavati= he who
becomes - king of pANDya; anvaya is with 60 verse - drawing sense
'he is such a king of pANDyA-s who is asked by no less than sage
agastya, which sage has stopped the growth of mountain on one
occasion, and which sage drank and spouted an ocean on another
occasion, such a sage will be enquiring this king about this king's
sacred bath after Vedic-ritual, and such a king is here as suitor to
you...'

"Sage who stopped the upward growth of the great
vindhya mountain, who quaffed off and spouted out entire
ocean, that sage agastya will be the
catechiser of this king when this pANDyan king's body is still wet
after the concluding sacred bath of ashvamedha
ritual enquiring, '…have you performed the ceremony of ablution
after Vedic-ritual ashvamedha
properly....' [6-61]

62. purA= in the days of yore;
janasthAna=janasthAna - a
stronghold of demon rAvaNa; vi marda=
devastation; sha~NkI= one who was
doubting - rAvaNa; dR^iptaH= insolent -
demon; la~Nka adhipatiH= lanka's, lord -
rAvaNa; dur Apa.m= difficult, to be
obtained; astra.m= a missile;
harAt= from hara, shiva; AptavatA=
one who obtained; yena= by whom - rAvaNa;
sa.mdhAya= having made peace - with the king of pANDya;
indra loka= Indra's, world; apajayAya=
not exactly victory, but gaining anything by conquest - as if to
make Indra's heavean defeated - avajayAya
is another text; pratasthe= embarked on -
rAvaNa; anvaya with 60th verse - he who is such a king etc;
indra vijayino rAvaNasya api [pANDya rAjA]
vijete iti arthaH.

"No less than the haughty king of lanka, namely
rAvaNa, had to make truce with these pANDyan kings as he
feared the devastation of his stronghold called
janasthAna at the hand of pANDya kings, because the pANDyan-s
wielded a deadly missile called
brahma-shiro-astra, obtained through the grace of god shiva…
so, rAvaNa firstly made pact with them and then went to conquer
indra's heaven, because conquering heaven is nothing before
conquering pANDyan empire… [6-62]

"When your hand is procedurally accepted by this pANDyan king, who
belongs to an illustrious lineage of southern kings, you will not
have another co-wife excepting the great pANDyan earth… hence, do
thou become a co-wife of the lady called southern quarter who is
engirt by the girdle of ocean studded with gems... then garland him…
and then you will… [6-63]

The girdle studded with gems has threefold
upama. 1] ratnaiH anuviddhaH - ratnAnuviddhaH; sa cAsau arNavaH ca -
ratnAnuviddhArNavaH - sa eva mekhalA yasyAssA - one who has a
girdle studded with gems, which is also an ocean, rather ocean
studded with gems - with ref. to earth in general. 2]
arNava sadR^ishI mekhalA - arNava mekhalA -
shAka pArthivAditvAt madhyama pada samAsaH - one whose girdle
cincture is broad and beautiful like an ocean, and which is also
studded with gems - with ref. to the princess
indumati. 3] ratnAnuviddha eva mekhalA
yasyAssA - one whose girdle cincture, namely southern
quarter, which is grit with an ocean which is studded with gems,
because the southern ocean is famous for gems - with ref. to
southern quarter.

"Be pleased to divert yourself always on the level spots of Mt.
malaya where the areca-palms will be entwining the
beetle-leaf creepers, cardamom creepers engirt the sandalwood trees
and where the ground is covered with the layers of black
tamala leaves... [6-64]

"This prince has the complexion of a blue-lotus and your slim figure
has the fairness of yellowish gorocana,
and your union with him enhances the elegance of both of you as with
the beauty of lightening and black cloud..." So said lady
sunanda to princess
indumati. [6-65]

Chatelaine sunanda's advice found no
admission into the heart of the sister of vidarbha's king, namely
princess indumati, just as a ray of the
lord of stars, namely the Moon, finds no entrance in the day-lotus
when its petals are enfolded into a bud on the disappearance of the
day maker, namely the Sun. [6-66]

Unmoved the royal Maid / Passed on : the lotus waits the rising Sun, / Nor heeds
the Moon's pale beams, but stays close shut.

Princess indumati who came to choose her husband
then moved like the glittering flame of a lamp on a king's way, and whichever
prince she left behind was suffused with pallor just like a turret or balustrade
on the king's way will be shrouded in darkness and becomes dim when left behind
by the moving light on the king's way. [6-67]

Owing to this comparison of heroine with the tongue of flame of a lamp, kAlidAsa
acquired the nickname of dIpa shikhA kAlidasa ,
like mAgha kavi acquiring a label like
ghaNTA mAgha title, when he compared
raivata mountain that has sun and moon on both of
its sides, to an elephant - vahati girirayam vila.mbi
ghaNTA... etc in shishupAla vadha.

When princess indumati arrived before the
son of emperor raghu, namely prince aja,
he became uneasy whether she would choose him or not.
But the throbbing of the upper right arm, where bicep-ornaments are
usually tied, removed his misgivings. [6-68]

That damsel indumati became stirless when
she came to the fore of prince aja who is
faultless in every limb, as a row of honeybees will certainly have
no desire to approach any other tree when it has gone to a mango
tree in full blossom. [6-69]

"There lived a monarch of the ikshvaku
dynasty, the most eminent of kings who had made a mark for himself.
From him forward the high-souled kings of north
kosala bear the proud patronymic of
kakutstha... [6-71]

72. yaH= who, which king kakustha;
sa.myati= in battle; mahA ukSha rUpa.m=
great, bull, in the form of; mahendram=
great Indra - Indra in bull's form; AsthAya=
taking up, bestriding; prApta pinAki lIlaH [san=
] = obtained, Shiva's, dexterity, while being so - while he attained
the dexterity of shiva because he mounted a great bull;
bANaiH= with arrows; asura a~NganAnA.m=
demon, female's; gaNDa sthalIH= cheeks,
at the places of; proShita= gone abroad,
away from home - hence made to disappear; patra
rekhAH= leafage, lines - ornamental leafage drawn on the
cheeks of Asura females -
signs of happy married life; cakAra= he who
made - anvaya with earlier verse.

"Once indra assumed the form of a great
bull and this kakutstha bestrode that
bull. And while riding the bull kakutstha
attained the dexterity of shiva, the destroyer, and flinging arrows on
adversaries he made the pretty
cheeks of asura females bare of
ornamental designs... [6-72]

"It was this kakutstha who in heaven
shared half the seat with the breaker of flying mountains, namely
indra, even when that indra discarded the bull's form and resumed
his original magnificent form… and it is he who rubbed shoulders
with indra to the point of rasping his bicep-let with that indra
that had been loosened with indra's continuous flapping of his
elephant called AirAvata... thus this
prince aja belongs to the lineage of such
a heaven-mate puranjaya, the
kakutstha… [6-73]

74. uru kIrtiH= of great, renown;
kula pradIpaH= for dynasty, who is the luminescence;
dilIpaH [iti] nR^ipatiH= DilIpa, [thus known as,] a king;
tasya kule jAtaH= in his [kakutstha's,] dynasty, is born;
kila= they say; yaH= who - which
dilIpa; shakra abhyasUyA vinivR^ittaye=
Indra's, indignation, to remove; eka na shata=
one, less than, hundred - ninety nine; kratutve=
one who has those many Vedic-rituals; atiShThat=
he [dilIpa] was there.

"In the dynasty of kakutstha a king of great renown and a
luminescent personality of that dynasty took birth… he is known as
emperor dilIpa and they say that though
dilIpa could perform hundred
Vedic-ritual, he stopped at ninety-nine just to keep down the
indignation of indra... [6-74]

Indra never allows anyone to complete hundred Vedic-rituals.
Here though Indra did not interfere that severely, king
dilIpa out of his own magnanimity stopped
performing 100th ritual.

75. yasmin= which - DilIpa;
mahI.m shAsati= earth, while reigning;
vihAra ardha pathe= rendezvous, half, way - when they are
halfway on the path of rendezvous; nidrA.m
gatAnAm= sleep, who went into;
vANinInA.m= of wanton girls, carpulent women;
a.mshukAni= garments; vAtaH api=
wind, even; na asra.msayat= not, moved;
AharaNAya= for stealing; kaH= who;
hastam lambayet= hand, stretches; anvaya
with 74th verse; in which dynasty such a king DilIpa is born, in the
same dynasty prince aja is born.

"While king dilIpa was reigning over the
earth, even the wind did not move the garments of crapulous women
fallen asleep halfway on the road to their rendezvous… then, who
could stretch forth his hand to commit a theft... [6-75]

"He who performed the great Vedic-ritual called
vishvajit, and who straitened all the riches amassed by him
from all the four quarters as good as an earthen pot, such an
emperor raghu, the son of king dilIpa, holds the place of his father
at present... [6-76]

"He whose renown has ascended the mountains, overspread on oceans,
entered the netherworld, and even has gone high up to heaven, and is
still ever-pervading beyond all measurement or limit, such an
emperor raghu is reigning t present... [6-77]

"And this heir-apparent prince aja took
birth as the son of such an emperor raghu, as
jayanta took birth as the son of the lord of heaven, namely
indra, and though this prince aja is
still a trainee in kingcraft he bears the weighty yoke of the earth
in a similar way of his experienced father raghu... [6-78]

"You may choose, if you please, this prince
prince aja who is a coequal of yours by his lineage, charm,
young age, and by several other virtues of which modesty is the
chief. Let the jewel be united with
gold..." So said lady sunanda to princess
indumati about prince
aja. [6-79]

Then, at the conclusion of sunanda's
speech, princess indumati lessening her
coyness accepted the young prince aja as
her husband by throwing a bright glance of satisfaction at him, as
if that glance itself is the wooing garland. [6-80]

Though princess indumati could not
express her fixed love in regard to that young prince
aja verbally, but the love of that
curly-haired princess penetrated through her slender body and
manifested in the form of hair-thrills. [6-81]

On observing that her friend indumati had
tripped into a trance of love, warder sunanda
jestingly spoke this to her, "oh, lady, let us go somewhere else..."
at which the damsel indumati frowningly
threw a sidelong glance at sunanda.
[6-82]

6-83. karabha=kara
pradesha visheSaH - from wrist to the tip of small finger of
a hand, a hand sized; upama= similar to;
UrUH= one having that much thighs - slender thighed
indumati; sA= she -
indumati; cUrNa gaura.m= with kumkum powder, which became red;
guNa.m= usually means a thread, here a thread to which
flowers are knotted - garland; mUrtam anurAgam
iva= embodiment, of [her] love, as though;
dhAtrI karAbhyA.m= with nurse sunanda's,
hands; raghunandanasya kaNThe= around
Raghu's legatee - prince aja's, neck;
yathA pradesha.m= in correct position;
Asa~njayAmAsa= garlanded; na tu sva
karrabhyAm - anaucityAt - The princess did not garland him
with her own hands as it would be indecorous.
So indumati used the hands of sunanda to garland prince aja.

Then that princess with slender-thighs indumati
caused the bridal-garland, which is already reddened with auspicious
kumkum powder, to be properly placed by
the hands of her nurse sunanda around the
neck of raghu's son, prince aja, and then
that reddish garland looked the very embodiment of her blushing love
towards him. [6-83]

The citizens available in the hall of bridegroom-selection eulogised
the union of bride and bridegroom, whose characteristics are
similar, in one voice. They said that
indumati is like the moonshine that has
come back to the moon when the moon is cleared of clouds covering
him. And she is like River ganga
descended to the ocean so suited to her. Of course, this talk
remained harsh on the ears of other suitor kings still available
there. [6-85]

The metre of this stanza is mAlini. The
al.mkAra in this verse cannot be decided
as 'nidarshana' or
'lalita' hence this is termed as
'sa.ndehaka' alankAra - kuvalayAnanda . In
sAhitya darpaNa ,
vishvanAtha kavirAja has said as
'samAsAla.nkAra' - samam syAt anurUpyeNa,
shlAghA yogyasya vastunaH ||

86. ekataH= on one side;
pramudita vara pakSham= gladdened, bridegroom's, party;
anyataH= another side; vitAnam=
blank with dejection; tat kShiti pati maNDalam=
that, land, lords, assembly; uShasi= in
morning; praphulla padma.m= fully
bloomed, lotuses - under sun; kumuda=
white lotuses - those closing up in consequence of the disappearance
of moon; vana= with a host of - such
lotuses; pratipanna nidram= which
obtained, sleep - kumuda flowers;
saraH iva= lake, like - like a lake with such lotuses;
AsIt= it is - that hall for self-selecting the bridegroom
became.

With the highly gladdened party of the bridegroom on one side,
and with highly dejected party of suitors on the other, that assembly of kings
in the hall for self-selecting the bridegroom appeared as a morning time lake
containing a host of white lotuses drowned in sleep with the disappearance of
moon on one side, and with fully blooming lotuses on the other, with the rise of
the sun. [6-86]

Thus this is 6th chapter in Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha, The Outstanding
Poem of India

--o)0(o--

abbreviations, words used etc - explained

Krishnarao Mahadeva Joglekar, 1916 - KMJ, or Joglekar

Gopala Raghunath Nandargikar, 1897 GRN

pithy, terse sayings or foots of poem appearing in comment section - from The
Story of Raghu's Line by Kalidasa; translated by P. De Lacy Johnston,
Published by Adine House, London, 1902 - De Lacy or Lacy

---o)0(o--

upama is roughly said as metaphor,
transferred epithet, or condensed simile, or expanded simile, or
whatever, but not stabilised, as with
atishayokti and utpreksha both
made to fall under the category of a hyperbole.

zeugma : a figure of speech using a
verb or adjective with two nouns, to one of which it is strictly
applicable while the word appropriate to the other is not used
(e.g. with weeping eyes and [sc. grieving] hearts).

syllepsis : a figure of speech in
which a word is applied to two others in different senses (e.g.
caught the train and a bad cold) or to two others of which it
grammatically suits one only (e.g. neither they nor it is
working) - but not innuendo, or double meaning.

atishayokti - hybo: hyperbole.

utpreksha - mglq: magniloqui,
gasconade.

---o)0(o--

Out of many mind-boggling Sanskrit poetics,
upama is one, and only 23 of its shades are presented here
as illustration. Please construe that hero is telling these se ntences to his
heroine.